Development of Sakon Nakhon Rice Variety for Blast Resistance through Marker Assisted Backcross Breeding

The Sakon Nakhon (SKN) rice cultivar is non-photosensitive, rich in aroma, and an excellent choice for cooking quality; which adapts well to both upland and lowland conditions. Furthermore, it has been adopted by Thailand’s sugarcane growers, as it has proved fit for an upland crop preceding the sugarcane cropping system. However, SKN is very susceptible to blast disease caused by Pyricularia oryzae. The purpose of this study was to breed SKN for blast resistance, using marker-assisted backcrossing, together with phenotypic selection. The breeding population was constructed by crossing the SKN (recurrent) with the RD6 introgression line (donor), which contained four blast resistant quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Franking microsatellite markers for blast resistance QTLs on chromosomes 1, 2, 11 and 12 were used for selection through BC₂F₂. Thirteen BC₂F₃ selected lines were evaluated under greenhouse conditions, and seven lines of BC₂F₄ were evaluated against blast, along with their agronomic traits, under field conditions (upland and lowland). SKN 39-10-19-29-12 and SKN 39-10-19-29-13 presented high resistance to leaf and neck blast; and were non-photosensitive, with the same agronomic traits as the SKN. This study successfully demonstrates the improvement of the recommended SKN variety blast resistance, while maintaining similar agronomic traits.